Chief Lin Beifong unwillingly threw herself out of her comfortable bed and stretched her limbs until she felt a satisfying pop. She sighed and rested her arms at her sides. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon but this was a regular routine for the woman. Wake up bright and early, get a little exercise in, shower, eat breakfast, get dressed and go to work. A little something she picked up from her legendary mother.
Without wasting another second, Lin was down on the floor and warming herself up by push-ups. She might've been fifty-something years old with silver locks by her years on the force but that didn't mean she didn't want to keep herself in shape. Being a cop meant that she had to keep herself healthy and because she was aging, she had to double up on every health precaution she was doing. Another thing she learned from Toph.
After a set of fifty push-ups and sit-ups, Lin was already throwing on some shoes for a five mile run. Most people would think she was crazy if they saw her this early in the morning running through the city in the bitter cold.
But let them think what they want. It was her health and she didn't care what opinion people had on the subject. Though the people of Republic City had to have been used to seeing their own chief of police running on the sidewalks early in the morning. She looked forward to her daily runs. They were used to clear her head and rid her thoughts on stressful things like work, keeping this city safe, the recovering Avatar.
Lin turned a corner and sped up her pace and pumped her arms and legs harder.
X
"Chief Beifong?"
Said woman lifted her head from the numerous files that were scattered on her desk. Many of the papers were left unread while the ones that were read were neatly stacked in a metal wired basket.
Standing in the door way was one of her deputies with the president of Republic City. Lin straightened her back in curiosity and settled the file on her desk and clasped her hands together. "President Raiko," Lin greeted with a nod of her head. She dismissed the standing officer with a wave of her hand and started to organize the papers. The president pulled up a lone chair and situated himself in front of her desk.
"What can I help you with?" Lin asked.
"Actually, Miss Beifong, I'm not the one who needs your help. It's someone who might be very important to you."
At that Lin raised an eyebrow and asked the man for further explanation.
X
"This cannot be happening. This cannot be happening." That became Lin's new mantra when the president left her office and left her alone with her thoughts. She didn't have time for this new situation when plenty of other problems still haven't been resolved! First the vines have tangled themselves around half the city, the Avatar herself is still in critical condition, crime rates have gone up to an all-time high, there's been threats of new dangerous gangs and now she has to deal with this? She is already responsible for the lives of the people in her city and she doesn't need one more person to look after!
The sudden ringing coming from the clock on her wall that signaled that her shift was over brought Lin back to reality. The chief groaned and shoved the unread papers into her desk drawer and headed for the door. Some officers nodded at her when and if they passed her through the hallways to which she absent mindedly ignored.
An aching throb sent large, painful tidal waves throughout Lin's skull and she clenched her eyes shut and kept walking. The swelling in her head kept growing and growing almost like it was mocking her for the slow but sure process of her failure.
She was losing the once beautiful image of Republic City and now it was turning into a criminal infested, vine covered dump with little to no decent people remaining.
The chief opened her eyes when she reached the front doors of the police department. Lin pushed the lobby doors open and walked onto the cracked pavement of the sidewalks. She sighed and rubbed her head with her one hand while letting her mind wonder off into oblivion. She knew this was one of her responsibilities. Not as the chief of police, but as a human being. Lin wasn't one to just up and run from her mistakes but the timing couldn't have been worse.
Despite living so close to the station Lin nearly passed her apartment when her mind was so crowded with her responsibilities. She stopped dead at her tracks as she made a sharp turn to her apartment and walked into the building. She walked up the familiar steps to her decent sized apartment and passed some of her neighbor's doors. Though it was very late in the night Lin made no effort in making her footsteps light. Instead, she allowed her feet to stomp onto the wooden floors until she reached her own door.
Upon opening her door she sighed at the relief of being home and had already started to shed her armor off when she stepped in and shut the door. Stacks of mail and letters sat on her dinner table as well as some dirty dishes that she didn't get to wash before leaving for work. She made a note to get those clean in the morning. Lin would've done it right away but she was just too damn tired.
Once Lin was finally free of her uniform, she made a b-line to the only bathroom and started up a hot shower. She didn't expect that a simple wash would make all her problems go away but it would certainly help get rid of the strain in her muscles.
It was hard. She hated to admit it but it was true. Difficult times just made every single thing harder but it certainly wasn't a surprise. All she could do was take it head on and make her own path.